The Church Is Relevant to Salvation

Common sense is defined in the dictionary as sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.

Facts:

1. The Lord Jesus Christ established a church. (Mt.16:18)

2. He taught the apostles his teachings. (Mt.28:20)

3. His teachings came from the Father (Jn.7:16)

4. Rejecting His teachings is rejecting Christ himself and the Father. (Jn.12:48)

Hence, no man in his right senses can say that the Lord Jesus Christ is non-sensible and illogical! Part of his teachings tells us that a preacher must be sensible.

I TIMOTHY 3:2 (MODERN KING JAMES VERSION)

Then it behooves the overseer to be without reproach, husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, well-ordered, hospitable, apt at teaching,

The Lord Jesus Christ is without doubt the most sensible preacher of all times!

1. He established a church!

MATTHEW 16:18

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Is it necessary for Jesus Christ to establish a church? Logically it is, and so He would! It follows that one is illogical if he does not accept the importance of the church. How did Christ regard the church? He loved it and gave his life for it.

EPHESIANS 5:25

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

In human terms, Christ can be said to be the Church’s better half! It will grossly be against common sense and logic if one says that the church is not important to salvation. While Jesus Christ is the Savior, He is going to save the church.

EPHESIANS 5:23

For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body.

Which is the body?

COLOSSIANS 1:18

And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Are there illogical people who, in the absence of common sense, say that the church is not needed for salvation? Here are some of them.

A. Pat Robertson

B. Harold Camping

C. Apollo C. Quiboloy

2. The church is a part of His teachings!

The word “church” appears 76 times in the New Testament of the King James Version of the Bible, 73 times in the Revised Standard Version, 77 times in the Catholic Authorized Version or the Douay-Rheims Version, 74 times in The American Standard Version, 73 times in the Codex Sinaiticus in English Translation and 86 times in the newly translated Good News Bible of the Catholic and the Protestant.

The above statistics sustain the fact that the church is a vital teaching of Christ and the New Testament!

It is not true that the church age has ended like what Harold Camping and Apollo Quiboloy say. The church was intended by God to be the proclaimer of his wisdom until eternity.

EPHESIANS 3:10-11

10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

At the end of this age, the church will be presented to Himself blameless.

EPHESIANS 5:27

That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Anybody therefore who says that the church age has ended is a liar!

3. The teachings of the Lord Jesus came from the Father.

JOHN 7:16

Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.

4. Rejecting the teachings of Christ is rejecting the Father! That’s the logic of it and that has biblical basis!

JOHN 13:20

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

LUKE 10:16

He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.

And most importantly: Rejecting the teachings of Christ (part of which is extensively about the church) is rejecting Christ himself.

JOHN 12:48

He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Conclusion:

It is therefore a heap of stupidity to say the least that the church is not necessary for salvation!

Is there salvation outside the church established by the Lord Jesus Christ?